Shae could see the arena pit through the bars. She'd just been looking down at those blank sandy fields with ignorant indifference hours ago, and now here she was: being thrown into the bloodstained pit.

She heard Yoongi's voice echo over the stadium outside, felt the quake of voices rising up around the stadium in a shout. Then a horn sounded.

The gate opened.

Whenever she didn't move, one of the centries grabbed her forcefully by the arm and began dragging her out into the arena, throwing her out and down into the sand with a grunt before they turned and walked back through the gate. It clanged shut behind them, the sound echoing ten times louder from the acoustics of the pit.

Shae quickly scrambled to her feet in her powdery blue spandex body suit. Shae found the sand difficult to find a good footing on in her boots, though. Her hands traveled to the ultra skinny, medium length blade that had been attached to her hip like an awkward extra elbow. She pulled it halfway from it's creamy yellow sheath and stared at it.

I've not even gotten past hand-to-hand combat training. What the heck am I supposed to do with this?

There was an echo of iron crashing as three more gates into the arena were opened, and three more figures stepped out: Jeon Jungkook to her left, Lilith straight across, and Jung Hoseok from the doorway to her right.

What are we all doing in here at once?

Shae walked slowly and carefully towards the center of the arena, and so did the other three combatants.

Jeon Jungkook raked through his hair with one hand, while the other braced casually against the hilt of his longsword as it knocked against his hip. His eyes weren't deceiving him as he strode forward through that arena pit.

When his gaze fell onto Shae, there was an echo of anger from somewhere in the pit of his stomach that rose up and almost escaped through his own throat freely in the form of a yell. He swallowed the force of it back and let his eyes fall into focus, scanning the scene carefully before him. He didn't take long to deduce that Hoseok had already proven himself the more lethal threat to Shae's wellbeing. He'd be the one to watch.

The four figures stopped and stood around each other in the center of the arena.

Jungkook looked suspiciously around the circle that had formed, with his eyes landing on Jung Hoseok. "Why are you doing this?"

Lilith was the one who answered. "We're doing it for your own good. For everyone's good."

"Don't coddle them. This isn't a day care, this is a battleground." Hoseok's eyes flickered fiercely back at Jungkook. Hoseok plucked up a tiny Geji sword from his hip that seemed suitable as a throwing knife, a dark grin twisting into his lips.

This could be over before it even begins, Shae thought, confusion consuming her. Hadn't Hoseok just given this pep talk about justice? What was just about attacking Jeon Jungkook and me? We didn't do anything wrong.

Jungkook didn't wait for gongs to sound or the fight to start. He made his way over to Shae as he pulled his longsword from its sheath. "Stay behind me. Don't go far from me. I'll protect you, Shae."

She replied in a small voice, "Thank you."

The gong sounded.

The fight was on.

____

Joon didn't even bother with railings or staircases. His singular direction was forward: getting as close to Shae as he could, as quickly as possible. He raced through the stadium seats, the nosebleed white lawn chairs, and as he ran shouts of awe or screams of fear followed him like a wave.

At the ledge of the pits, where the stadium made a steep drop and became three-story-plus walls of stone, Joon let his white-electric hands flicker into normalcy. He found one of the banners hanging low over the side of the stone.

No magic in the pits. Dammit, that's right.

He gripped the large banner tightly in his hands, scooted himself towards the edge of the stone ledge of the arena pits, and then he dropped overboard. His fingers clawed into stone ledge, then into that massive overhanging banner, and he began the steady climb down into the fray.

____

Shae waited for the ball to drop. For the longsword in Jungkook's hand and the longsword in Hoseok's to start clashing.

Lilith and Hoseok were circling Jungkook and Shae. Jungkook was having a hard time keeping an eye on both attackers at once.

Shae started to pull her blade out of it's sheath again.

The sound made Jungkook say in a stern voice, "Be careful with that. Don't hit me on accident, alright?"

Shae gulped as she settled the blade in both of her hands, feeling the weight of the metal cause the tip to drop towards sand. It was heavier than she expected, for something so slender.

Hoseok's voice barked from off to Shae's left, "Ready, Lilith?"

"Ready, Hobi."

"GO!"

Shae felt like she heard the metal before she fully registered the sight of contact, as first Lilith lunged, then Jung Hoseok, and they began whirring and sparring with Jungkook all at once.

Shae stumbled backwards and out of the way, still slightly behind Jungkook. She lifted her blade up to waist height, backed slowly away, and watched.

Hoseok gave a particularly forceful lunge, Jungkook braced forward into sand, and the two young men managed to get their swords knotted together, hilt-on-hilt, as their glaring faces became suddenly inches apart.

The two excellent fighters attempted to twist and dislodge the other's blade from their hands, but the result was that both became momentarily off balance and stumbled sideways in the sand to regain their footing. They both corrected and squared up with each other again.

Except where was Lilith now?

"Shae, you can either drop the blade, or I will disarm you." Lilith's voice wasn't angry or sharp with warning, it was matter-of-fact and calm.

Shae realized with a feeling of absurdity that Lilith wasn't threatening her. She was trying to guide her.

Lilith took one careful step after another forward in sand in her knee-length black leather boots. "You can decide, either way is fine."

Shae felt her fingers loosen around the hilt of her blade. "I don't want to fight you," she answered back softly.

A deeper voice growled, "No, but I do."

Large, strong hands swallowed Shae's in an instant, as an elbow shoved into her side and Kim Namjoon yanked that Geji blade from her.

"Stay behind me, Shae." Joon stepped forward, the blade raised defensively at hip level and his knees bent, ready to swerve.

Lilith's dark eyes were suddenly hot coals burning into Joon. Her voice was positively acidic when she spoke to him, "Of all the times for you to finally be the hero."

"Hypocrite."

"You've no right. To say. A Damn. Thing." Lilith took several careful paces backwards, gritting her teeth as she did spoke. Then the small, fierce woman flitted her blade and made a tiny line in the sand parallel to her feet. "Alright then, I won't cross this line, so you'll have to. Shae stays back behind it and outta the duel. Sound fair?"

Joon eyed Lilith's small frame skeptically. "I don't see why you care...but fine by me."

"Good."

The leader of Noon Mool flitted forward with electric speed, and the sound of metal dancing against metal in rapid fire between Lilith and Joon took Shae completely by surprise. Unlike the gruff, weight-throwing style of fighting that Jungkook and Hoseok seemed to be sparring with, Joon and Lilith moved with delicate and fluid motion.

Shae realized something as she watched.

It was because Lilith and Hoseok were letting Joon and Jungkook lead their duels.

Shae watched their footwork. It was like both Hoseok and Lilith were baiting and switching, trying to entice and lure their opponent in a set direction. Shae could see how this drew the fighting further and further from her, too.

What were they playing at?

____

Ava and Jin leaned into the screen before them, watching as the battle raged on in the arena. They were past their tears for the moment.

Jin was dumbfounded silence in his chair, his eyes seeing but hardly recognizing.

Ava was an overflow of rage. She hadn't sat back down once. She leaned over the screen, and her balled fists pumped through the air like she was feinting for a fist fight.

"THAT'S RIGHT JUNGKOOK, YOU KNOCK THAT RED HEADED BASTARD ON HIS SORRY ASS."

Her shouting was so loud, it almost completely overshadowed the sound of metal-on-metal in their own space. There was a rattling of the doorknob. Ava straightened on her feet, Jin's dull eyes turned, and they watched as that locked door became unlatched. The door swung slowly open and the figure of Park Chimin speckled in blood was revealed on the other side of it.

"Chim, are you alright?!" Jin rushed forward at the sight of Chimin--safe, unharmed, and there. Of all places. Then Jin's eyes popped wide as he plucked at the front of Chim's white blouse which was stained with red, searching for a wound there.

"I'm fine, Jin-hyungie, but we all won't be if you don't come with me right away."

Ava had a much different reaction to the sight of Chimin.

Once reality properly settled in, Ava marched forward, swung her hand back, and in a step and swing motion Ava's fist landed in Park Chimin's gut. He doubled forward with a groan, holding his stomach and temporarily unable to breathe.

"Hey!" Jin scowled.

Ava ignored him.

"Listen here, you sneaky little bastard. I know that was you that came out onto the battlefield to help that red devil with...." Ava stepped forward again, this time landing a solid uppercut to the side of Chimin's face, snapping his neck sideways.

He didn't react in any way, didn't even look Ava in the eyes as she spoke.

Ava shouted on, "You conniving little shit, you had something to do with all of this! I know you did. Jin knows you did...."

Jin muttered, "Yeah, I know he did."

"...and we aren't here to fall prey to another one of your schemes, so." Ava yanked Park Chimin by the front collar of his bloodied white shirt, hard, and pushed him gruffly up against the wall of that storage room. "You're gonna--"

Chimin interrupted in a tone of voice that was so level it sounded almost bored, "I can understand your frustration, but here's what you need to know. The fight you're seeing in the arena is completely staged, and completely on purpose. We aren't tying to hurt anyone. We're just tryna set a trap for the real enemy here--Petra."

Jin and Ava exchanged THE EFF DID HE JUST SAY looks with each other.

"Yeah. And part of that plan involves nixing all the anti-magic codes this place has, which means all hell breaking loose after the fact. So I came to fetch you guys for the getaway shuttle before we get to that point in all of this, because people are gonna go nuts when the systems crash and it won't be safe to leave you both behind."

"When you say we," Jin started, "who is it that you mean?"

"I mean myself, Hoseok, Yoongi and Lilith. That's the honest to God truth, Kim Seokjin."

Ava's hands released the collar of Chimin's shirt and she took a step back.

Jin, in turn, stepped forward--and took his own turn at landing a solid uppercut to Chimin's gut. This one caused Chim to brace against the wall longer to catch his breath again, and to regain the full use of his watery eyes.

Jin snarled, "That's for being a lying, scheming, murder-plotting little ass."

Chim's blurry gaze finally found Jin's. The tension that passed between the two of them was so thick, Ava was surprised either of them could see through it.

Chimin said stiffly, "I lied before, but I am not lying now."

Jin reached a hand forward, pressing his thumb into the cleft between Chim's neck and the side of his right jaw. Jin's thumb gave a faint pink glow. Chim squinted from the pressure and the heat, but he didn't squirm away.

"I'm telling the truth," Chimin glared.

Jin's thumb stopped glowing pink, though the angry tension didn't leave his hand as it was halfway clasped around Chimin's throat. Jin roughly shoved Chimin by the neck into the wall, but just once, before letting his hand slip away. Chimin's own hands then reached up to do a delicate dance across his own neck, his fingers smoothing over the skin where Jin had so roughly held him.

Chimin swallowed.

Jin's eyes scanned Chimin's neck carefully where the good doctor's thumb had been pressed into skin. "He isn't lying," Jin grumbled. "At least, mostly."

"What does that mean?" Ava asked with a roll of her eyes.

"I developed this lie-detector rune I just used on him myself. It's even more reliable than truth serum. If someone's lying, the mark brands into their skin. Depending on how severe the lie is, the stronger the brand. It left a mark, but it's barely visible. Which leads me to believe that he's MOSTLY telling the truth."

"What the fuck, Kim Seokjin, I don't need half-truths, I need the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so. Help. Me. God." With each paused word, Ava took one step closer, then another, with her fists raised and ready to shove up into the bridge of Park Chimin's nose.

He glared down the length of his nose at her and his sharp, narrowed eyes were biting beneath the messy tousle of blonde hairs falling into his face.

Jin took Ava by the shoulders and pulled her away from where she had Chim cornered against the wall. Jin said in a rush, "It's close enough, alright? And remember what I said about Lilith? Right now I can't say that I trust Chimin, but I trust Lil, and so that's that. I'm going with Chim."

Ava thought to herself, How is it that I'm suddenly the only sane person on this entire godforsaken rock?

When Ava crossed her arms didn't say anything more to that, Jin spat the words towards Chimin, "So take us the hell outta here already. Get on with this shit-show."

Chimin led away, taking Ava and Jin in the direction of the escape shuttle--and leaving the extra gear, comm screen and snacks behind.